Married at First Sight's Nadia wouldn't marry ex after 10 years, now wants 'white picket fence'

She's marrying a stranger on Nine's fourth season of Married at First Sight, but Nadia wasn't ready for marriage when her on-off ex of 10 years proposed.

The flight attendant/part-time model, who describes herself as "fiercely independent" and not your "standard 36-year-old", didn't want to settle down like most of her friends had in her hometown of Adelaide.

And while the time wasn't right then, the Brisbane-based bride told TheFIX the "white picket fence" doesn't look so bad now.

"There was a point in time where my long-term partner did ask me to marry him, but I thought he was joking," Nadia told TheFIX. "In hindsight, I was possibly very immature.

"I could easily have said 'Yes, I'm going to settle, we're going to have a family'. But in my heart of hearts, I knew that wasn't for me. I still had a lot of growing to do in myself. I still wanted to learn more. I wanted to pursue a career. I wanted to try new things.

"I didn't want the white picket fence straight away, and the two and a half kids and two golden retrievers in St Peters and sending my kids to [Anglican boys' school] St Peters College."

"Had it been handed to me now in the state of mind that I'm in, fabulous," she said. "But I was just not ready."

Nadia said she'd been "scarred" by two long-term relationships. The most recent one, which ended three and a half years ago, was with a guy for whom she moved from Adelaide to Brisbane.

"It wasn't a functional relationship," she revealed, adding that her Tinder experiences afterwards were "disheartening".

Now, Nadia hopes to meet someone who isn't intimidated by her independence.

"I didn't grow up with a father. I grew up with a very independent mother, and my family is very female-orientated. And it kills me, because they're so fiercely independent that it makes it hard to make yourself vulnerable in a relationship," she explained.

"I would've loved to have had a father and a mother and a beautiful balanced household, because that would've given me that sense of 'That's where I want to be'. But I didn't have that."

Marriage material: New bride Nadia. Image: Nine.

Despite having never seen the show, Nadia was convinced by a close friend that Married at First Sight's scientific matchmaking approach might work for her.

It's not the most orthodox way to meet a husband. And Nadia's well aware that some might say she's going on TV to further her modelling career.

"Should doors open, that's fantastic. But I'm certainly not one to seek out opportunity, leveraging off things that aren't off my own personal merit," she said. "I'm very passionate about that. That's my independent woman coming out of me.

"In terms of taking an easy road, it could be so easy if I wanted to have been a successful model – maybe if I took all my clothes off! But at the end of the day, it is a job.

"I'm sure some people might be of that mindset, especially with my history, but at the end of the day I'm single. I haven't found that Mr Right.

"So the idea of wanting to have a family and settling down – that really does need to be a bit fast-tracked."

Married at First Sight's fourth season debuts January 30 on the Nine Network. Meet the new brides and grooms and catch up on previous seasons on 9Now.

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